


The new one

by Tina001



Series: New in Madrid [1]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Massage, Medical Examination, Nervousness, Sergio is new at Real Madrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-03-01 14:33:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18802261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tina001/pseuds/Tina001
Summary: Snippets of Sergio's experiences in his first year at Real Madrid.





	1. Arrival

**Author's Note:**

> All of this is completely fictional. Also the data about training times etc. are probably not right.  
> I'm no native speaker, so please forgive me any mistakes you might find ;)  
> If you want anything specific to add to Sergio's experiences, feel free to tell me about them :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio arrives at the Valdebebas for the first time.

Sergio drove up to the Valdebebas. It was the training facility of Real Madrid and he still couldn’t believe that he was allowed to train there. Despite his happiness the 19-year old felt quite nervous as well since he knew what amazing players played at this club. He had a lot of respect for everyone who made it to play in this team and he was quite scared that they wouldn’t like him.

It was now half past nine in the morning and he knew that the training had started thirty minutes ago. Thankfully he had a meeting with his new coach and Florentino Perez before he would get to meet the other players. His meeting however would not start for another 45 minutes. He had driven off his new home early to make sure he would be here on time even if he would drive the wrong way accidentally. He didn’t want to make a bad impression by being late on his first official day at Real Madrid. But now he was too early and decided to call his mom as he was still incredibly nervous.

Talking to his mother had been a good idea. He still was nervous but it had been calming to hear her voice and she had reassured him more than once that everything was going to be alright. He stepped out of his car and made his way into the building. He once again looked at Florentino Perez message to check if he had memorized the room number correctly and shortly after he was standing in front of the door. He took a deep breath and knocked.

“Come in”, he heard a voice and opened the door. Inside of the room he saw Real Madrid’s president Florentino Perez and his new coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo. He greeted both of them and took a seat with them. For the next 20 minutes they explained to him how everything at this club was working, when he’d have to be where for training, medical checks and so on. Luxemburgo also told him about wanting him to debut as soon as possible and that he had very high expectations on him.

“But now enough for the serious stuff”, said Perez. “Everything else will be explained to you by your new captains.” Shortly after he had finished his words, someone knocked on the door. Not even waiting for the call to come in, the door swung open and revealed José María Gutiérrez Hernández and Raúl González Blanco, the captains of Real Madrid.

Sergio gulped nervously as they entered the room and tried not to look too nervous. Both of the older men exchanged a few words with their coach and then turned to Sergio. Raúl looked at him with a smile and said: “Welcome to Real Madrid, Sergio. I’m Raúl González Blanco and I’m going to be your captain for the next years. This guy next to me is José María Gutiérrez Hernández and he is my deputy.” The blond player laughed and interrupted Raúl: “Yeah that’s right, but you can call me Guti. Everyone does that and it’s way less complicated. The coach has told us to show you around here a bit since there is no more training today.”

Sergio nodded and followed the older players out of the room. His nervousness had returned full force once the two captains had entered the room. He didn’t exactly know why, but he was quite intimidated by them even if they were being really nice to him.

He followed them out onto the training fields and listened carefully as Raúl explained to him: “Well, I’m quite sure you already know this, but training starts at 9 a.m. every day. Usually there is another training session in the afternoon which starts at 4 p.m., but sometimes, especially on the days after a game, we don’t have afternoon training. During the time between the sessions you can stay here or go home as well. We have quite a nice space to spend time here. Do you want to see it?”

Sergio nodded and Guti chuckled: “No need to be so shy, kiddo. We only bite people on rare occasions. How old are you actually?” Sergio blushed a little at that and answered: “I’m 19.” Before he could even worry about what else to say as he didn’t want to seem rude, Guti clutched his heart dramatically and sighed: “Oh god you’re 19?! I really am getting old…” Raúl gave him an affectionate slap upside the head and Sergio laughed quietly.

Guti grinned at him and continued speaking: “Okay so this here is the hotel of Real Madrid. We spend the nights before a match here and can also use our rooms for the time in between the training sessions if we want to. Most of the time no one does since we have an exquisite living space downstairs, but some of the guys with little children have started to take afternoon naps in order to catch up the sleep they’re missing out on at night. Your room is right over there. The room on next to yours at the right belongs to David Beckham, the one on the left to me. Raúls room is just opposite of yours. As you see you’ve already made it to the popular kids in the team.” The blond finished his little speech with an amused grin and Sergio couldn’t help but laugh.

Sergio jumped slightly as he felt a hand on his back. “No need to be scared, it’s only me”, he heard Raúls voice behind him. “You can always come to me or Guti with whatever issues you might have, okay? And even if it’s in the middle of the night, we will take our time for you.” Guti nodded and looked at Sergio seriously. Sergio gulped and answered a little shaky: “Thank you. I really appreciate that. Can I ask you something?” Guti nodded and looked at him expectantly. Raúl didn’t say anything as well but Sergio felt his hand move a little higher up his back which he took as an encouragement to go on.

“Luxemburgo told me he had high expectations on me. What does he mean with that? What do I have to do?”, this question had been tormenting him ever since his new coach had voiced it. He knew it was being stupid to be thinking about it now, but he knew exactly that he wouldn’t be able to sleep at night, if he didn’t have an answer. “You’re really adorable, do you know that?”, asked Guti, but continued immediately, “he does have high expectations on everyone in this squad. However no one knows what he really wants to see. All you can do is to give everything in training and I’m quite sure that he will like you then.”

Raúl hummed in confirmation and added: “Also I think you don’t have to worry about that. As Guti said just give it your best and no one can blame you for anything, okay? You don’t have to be scared of him. And if there’s something bothering you, don’t be shy and just ask one of us or one of the others okay?” Sergio nodded and thanked both of them.

-“-

Finally being in the car with Raúl, Guti looked at his boyfriend and said bluntly: “I really like Sergio.” Raúl nodded and answered: “I do too. But I’m afraid that he’ll have quite a hard time with the coach. I mean he already told him that he had really high expectations on him. And I also know that he wants him to debut as soon as possible. You can’t expect all of that from a 19-year-old. He needs time to settle in but I fear that Luxemburgo will not give him that time.”

Guti nodded and sighed: “I guess we’ll have to keep an eye on Sergio to make sure he’s fine. He seemed so insecure and nervous today as we came into the office that I nearly started to worry. And as you touched his back, you should have seen the expression on his face. He looked as if he feared that he had done something wrong which I don’t understand.” Raúl only nodded and kept on concentrating on the street but Guti knew that he also thought about what could’ve brought the boy to be this insecure about himself.

After their talk in the hotel they had shown him the gym, the dressing room, where the medical facilities were and where the cafeteria was. Throughout Sergio had been a little quiet but incredibly polite and Guti thought that he didn’t want to leave a bad impression. As he remembered their day with Sergio, he started to get thoughtful at one memory: When they had shown Sergio where the medical rooms were, the boy had seemed even more insecure than he had already been.

Still caught up in his thoughts, Guti started to tell Raúl about what he was remembering. Raúl was quiet for a little while and then answered: “You’re right, that was a little strange. But maybe he just doesn’t like going to the doctors? Or maybe he has been injured not long ago and now does his best to stay away from the medical staff?” Since Raúls line of argumentation was reasonable, Guti decided to not think about it any longer and maybe ask Sergio about it when the time was right.


	2. The first training session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sergio attends his first training session with the squad and meets the others.

Sergio parked this car in his new garage. He wasn’t used to living on his own yet since he had been living with his parents when he still played for Sevilla. Opening the door to his new house he thought about all the stuff he still had to do. He hadn’t even unpacked and not all of his boxes were empty yet. With a short glance to his watch he decided to start with these things now as he found it too early for dinner. Unpacking the boxes and getting the stuff sorted into different cupboards or shelves, his thoughts wandered to the tour with his new captains.

They had been incredibly nice to him and he hadn’t expected that. In his old team nearly no one was nice to the young, new guys as they had to earn it first. Guti and Raúl had surprised him a lot because they had answered the few questions he had asked seriously and had never laughed at him or made fun of him. Of course there had been a few jokes during that time but he never felt offended by them and it had been clear that they wanted him to be comfortable here. He also couldn’t help but notice that the two of them were most likely a couple judging by the way they behaved towards each other. Which made him think of a problem he had discovered today: He had known that he had a crush on the older players for some time now but he hadn’t known that it was such a strong crush.

They had overwhelmed him with their presence and the fact that they had been so nice and caring towards him had only intensified his crush. Remembering how he had jumped when Raúl had put a hand on his back, made him wish to sink into the ground out of embarrassment. Not for the first time he cursed about his shyness and insecurity when it came to meeting new people that were also stunningly attractive.

A few hours later he lay in bed wondering what the next day would bring. During dinner he had told his older brother René about today’s events and talking to his brother had chased away some of the homesickness he was feeling.

He was already a little nervous when he thought about meeting the other players the next day. Guti had promised him to introduce him to them but that only comforted him a little. What should he do if they didn’t like him? What if he behaved weird? Wondering about countless things he fell asleep.

-“-

As Sergio parked his car in his parking space at the Valdebebas he was incredibly nervous. Today was his first training with the Real Madrid squad and that also meant that he would meet the other players today. When he climbed out of his car, he noticed Guti standing away a couple of meters and smiling at him: “Hey, Sergio.” Sergio returned his greeting and felt himself beginning to relax. Guti seemed to notice that Sergio was nervous and said: “Don’t worry. They are already waiting to finally meet you. I might have bragged about you a little in the group chat yesterday.” This caused Sergio to blush and Guti laughed amused.

The blond stopped in front of a door and Sergio realised that they had already reached the dressing room. He gulped nervously and was surprised that Guti pulled him into a comforting embrace. Even as the older one opened the door he still had one arm slung around Sergios shoulders in a comforting manner. Roughly 20 men turned their heads at the sound of the door opening and started grinning as they saw Guti with the younger boy with long hair.

“Okay guys as you all might have guessed already: This is Sergio Ramos. Don’t scare him away as I would like him to stay at this club for a rather long time”, Guti introduced Sergio with a loud voice. Guits introduction caused Sergio to blush again which intensified even more as Raúl came over from the back of the room and pushed one of his long strands of hair back behind his ear. He smiled at Sergio gently and said: “Your locker is over there next to Iker’s.  When there is something wrong, you can come to us at all times, okay?” Sergio nodded and thanked his captains quietly.

He then made his way over to his locker to get changed. It took some time for him to actually get there as the other players were introducing themselves whilst he was on his way. All of them seemed to be very nice and this relieved Sergio immensely. The guy next to his locker, whom Raúl had called Iker and was one of the goalkeepers, smiled at Sergio and started a conversation with him almost immediately. Sergio noticed fairly quickly that Iker was genuinely interested in getting to know him better and was relieved that he didn’t have to do all of it by himself.

When they were changed, Sergio and Iker walked out of the dressing room and had to pass Raúl and Guti who were making sure that Sergio was alright. As Sergio passed them Guti ruffled his long hair with a grin and laughed when Sergio tried to fix his hair again: “Give up, kiddo. This ruffled style gives you more of a rebellious touch. I like it.” When they were alone again, Iker raised his eyebrows and said: “They must really like you. I mean they are nice to all new players that come here, but you seem to be something special.”

Sergio looked at Iker confused and asked: “What do you mean with that? Will that cause me trouble with the others?” The goalkeeper smiled at this younger colleague and answered: “No, of course no one will trouble you about that. And by meaning you seem to be something special, I mean all of their little touches towards you: Gutis arm around your shoulder when you came in, Raúl fixing your hair and Guti destroying it. “Sergio blushed but had no time to think about that further as Luxemburgo came onto the pitch and the training started. 

A few hours later – it was already starting to get dark – the second training session of the day was coming to an end. Luxemburgo called his players to gather around him in a circle as he had something to say: “If I have to be honest, I’m not entirely content with your performances today. Especially the players of the defence will have to work a whole lot more than now. Any questions?” They all shook their heads and disappeared into the dressing room after he had dismissed them.

Inside the dressing rooms Guti and Raúl looked around searching for Sergio. As they didn’t find him, Guti pondered: “What if he has taken the wrong way?” David Beckham who had heard his vice-captains words shook his head and said: “I highly doubt that. He stayed on the pitch with Luxemburgo who wanted to talk about his debut with him. From what I heard he wants him to debut in the next game, which in my opinion is too early. I mean the kid is good, but he still needs time to settle in and get used to everything. He seems a little overwhelmed sometimes especially if he comes face to face with one of the older ones in this team.” Raúl nodded and started a discussion with David about the best time for a player to debut.

Guti decided to go and look for Sergio as he didn’t have a good feeling when David told him that Luxemburgo was talking to Sergio. The blond had watched the young defender during training and agreed with David. Sergio was playing really well but sometimes he had seemed a little shy during actions and had not played with all his might. Guti feared that Luxemburgo wouldn’t understand why Sergio did this and that he would get angry with him because of that.

When Guti reached the training pitch, he found Sergio immediately. The young defender was standing in the middle of the pitch with a ball close to his feet. However he didn’t touch the ball, but was staring at it whilst thinking intently. Guti noticed that something was off because Sergio looked sad. The defender hadn’t recognized his presence yet and Guti approached him carefully. When he was only a few steps away, Sergio looked up a little startled. “Hey Sergio, are you okay?”, asked Guti.

Sergio only nodded but said after a short while: “I’m sorry that I didn’t come to the dressing room immediately and therefore wasting your time. I just needed a little time to think about some things.” Guti sighed silently and replied with a little authority in his voice: “You don’t waste my time. I decided to look for you because I wanted to do that. There is nothing you should feel sorry for. What about you come to the dressing room with me now, it’s getting cold and it looks like it will rain any minute?” Sergio nodded and together they walked back into the building.

Guti was already changed and had told Raúl about how he found Sergio on the pitch whilst the young defender was still in the showers. Soon after Sergio came out and started to change into his normal clothes. This was when Raúl spoke up: “Hey Sergio, do you already have plans for tonight?” Sergio shook his head and sighed: “No, I don’t really. I mean dinner would be a great idea but my kitchen doesn’t work yet since there is no power on the stove yet. But do you know any place where I can order some pizza or something like that?”

Guti smiled at him and said: “Yeah we do but why don’t you come over and have dinner with us? Raúl wanted to cook and I can assure you that it’s going to be way better for your diet plan when you eat his food than pizza or any other takeout. So, what do you say?” Sergio seemed a little insecure and busied himself with brushing out his long hair but eventually he mumbled: “That sounds great but only if I’m not bothering you …” Raúl chuckled and answered: “You’re not bothering us. If you were, we wouldn’t have asked you, okay? You’re worrying way too much about stuff like this.”


	3. Dinner

Sergio had followed his captains with his car as he had no idea where the address, that Guti told him, was. Once he climbed out of his car and saw their beautiful house, he started to get a little nervous again. He was going to be alone with his crushes in one house. To make that worse he had never been outgoing or very socially active so he had no experience in meeting new people. He was startled by Raúl who had turned up next to him and said quietly: “Why don’t you come inside? It looks like it’s going to rain any minute.” Sergio nodded and followed Raúl.

Soon he was sitting on one of the barstools in the kitchen next to Guti while Raúl busied himself with cooking. Much to Sergios surprise he had asked him if he liked what he was going to prepare for them or if he should do something else. Guti had added that Raúl would notice immediately if Sergio lied, which had caused Sergio to blush – what a surprise – and answer Raúls question truthfully. During the time in which Raúl prepared dinner for them, they talked a lot.

They asked Sergio about his family and both of them were smiling when Sergio told them about his little niece Daniela and how amazing she was. Sergio blushed a little as he confessed to his captains that he was gay when they asked him if he had a girlfriend. This only caused Guti to ask if he had a boyfriend then which Sergio declined.

They also talked about their hobbies aside from football and the captains discovered that Sergio liked flamenco as well as bull fights. Guti had a hard time believing the last one since in his eyes Sergio was a young, fragile, shy and incredibly nice guy, so he couldn’t explain himself why Sergio was into this sometimes really brutal sport. Sergio mistook Gutis musings for surprise and laughed at that. Both of the older guys discovered that Sergio had a very funny sense of humour and after some time he seemed to be comfortable enough around them to joke around with them.

After they had eaten – the food of Raúl had been delicious – the three moved over to the living room and sat on the couch there with Sergio in the middle. Gutis expression got a little more serious as he looked into Sergios eyes and asked: “Sergio I know that this probably is quite rude from me, but do you want to tell us what your talk with Luxemburgo today was about?”

Sergio sighed, looked down at his lap and began to pick at little pieces of dry skin on his hands. After a little while he spoke up, sounding sad: “The coach told me that I am going to debut at the next match. He also said that my work in training today was not great and that if I continue like this, it will be my fault if Real Madrid doesn’t win any titles this season. I just … I mean, I know that this training was not the best one of me  but … I mean I didn’t expect him to be so demanding and that he wanted me to debut so quickly …” His voice became smaller and quieter towards the end of his answer.

Raúl and Guti shared a look over Sergios dropped head and Guti took Sergio into his arms. At first the young defender tensed up but relaxed into Gutis hold fairly quick. Raúl, who had begun to play with Sergios long strands of hair, spoke up: “Sergio, I’m glad you told us about this. Now listen to me, okay? It was not the best training of the whole squad today and everyone knows that. I can assure you that in the team no one gives you the fault for anything that happened today. It is expected after summer break that the training sessions are not always on top. That would be impossible. The only problem is that Luxemburgo denying that. I talked to David today and he said that you really are a great defender and will be even better after you have lost the shyness that you still have when you come face to face with one of the older players. But that is normal too. He also said that debuting you in the next game is not a good idea since you still are young and need time to settle in, which Luxemburgo is denying you. Sadly there is nothing we can do about this, but I am sure that the rest of the squad is the same opinion. And besides that: there is no one who has a good stand with Luxemburgo these days. Him saying stuff like he said to you is quite normal these days as he says that to everyone. The only difference to you is that they don’t care and he knows that.”

Sergio freed himself enough of Gutis arms that he could look at Raúl: “David Beckham thinks I’m good?” Raúl nodded and chuckled quietly. Sergio then continued talking: “I just wish that I wouldn’t have to debut so soon. It’s a lot to take in and I honestly don’t know if I can do it in the next match…” Raúl nodded understandingly and replied: “We’ll talk to him again, okay? Maybe we can get him to sub you on instead of giving you a place in the start formation as he’s planning now.” Sergio thanked him quietly and threw a quick look onto his watch. “Oh shit it’s already late”, he exclaimed.

Guti laughed quietly and then said: “Yeah it is but you are not going to drive home now. Have you thrown a glance outside? There’s a huge thunderstorm going on and driving home now would be very dangerous. So you’re staying here tonight. No discussion!” Sergio sighed but tried to protest: “But I don’t have any sleeping clothes here …” Raúl laughed at that and told him that he could borrow something out of one of Gutis closets. Giving in Sergio agreed to stay with them.

After they had watched a film, Sergio gulped nervously and gathered up enough courage to ask what has been on his mind since Iker told him: “Can I ask you something?” Guti and Raúl nodded and the youngest continued: “Well I actually don’t know how to say this … I really don’t want to be impolite but …. I mean Iker told me today and then I started wondering …” Guti interrupted Sergios rambling and said: “Come on, gypsy, get it out. We won’t bite.” Sergio gulped once again and then said in an impressive tempo: “Okay, so Iker told me today that you were giving me special attention. I mean I didn’t notice but after he told me I wondered why?”

His captains had understood him nevertheless and shared a look silently agreeing on telling Sergio what they had discussed the previous evening over dinner. Raúl looked Sergio into the eyes and then explained to him: “Well, I can understand that Iker noticed this because it’s true. As you know Guti and I are a couple and we’re very happy together. But when we met you, something was different. We both liked you from the spot on and agree that you are something very special even if you still are a bit young.”

Maybe an hour later, Sergio was in the bathroom while Guti and Raúl were already in the bedroom. Sergio could feel some nerves creeping up his spine because he had never had a boyfriend and didn’t know anything about relationships. Hell he hadn’t even slept in bed with someone that was not related to him. He had texted his sister and was currently waiting for her reply.

Finally her text arrived and Sergio read: “Don’t worry. If they’re really that amazing they won’t do anything you’re not comfortable with ;)  Relax little brother and sleep well” Taking a deep breath, Sergio opened the door of the bathroom and came into Gutis and Raúls bedroom.

The moment Sergio stepped into their bedroom Guti noticed that he was nervous and a little insecure. Raúl seemed to have noticed that as well but he only smiled at Sergio and once the boy was close enough to them, Raúl gently pulled him to lie in the middle of him and Guti.  Sergio squirmed around a little but Guti was quick to stop that by slinging an arm around Sergios stomach. This seemed to calm Sergio down and soon after he was fast asleep in the middle of his two captains.


	4. Hotel nights

The weeks of preseason had flown by and Sergio had gotten quite used to everything in his new life now. His house was finally finished, he had unpacked every box and the electricity was working everywhere. In training he was getting better and more secure of his actions which had some of the older players complementing him. He also wasn’t nervous anymore when he came into the dressing room since he had gotten to know all the players and had realised that they were only humans after all. He had become close friends with Iker Casillas and they spent a lot of time together. Iker had also shown him some places in Madrid that were his favourite spots and he had already met Ikers girlfriend.

Luxemburgo seemed to be content with Sergios work and hadn’t said a harsh word to him. The night he had stayed over at Gutis and Raúls house hadn’t changed anything between them and they were still watching out for him. They had also given him a few tours through Madrid and had taken him to see some of the monuments of the city. He also had had so much to do over the last weeks that he didn’t find time to be homesick which was great.

Tomorrow would be one of the first games of the current season and it would mark Sergios debut. Guti and Raúl had succeeded and the coach had agreed to sub him on some time in the second half of the game instead of letting him play from the beginning. Sergio packed the final items that he would need for his first night at the Real Madrid team hotel in Valdebebas and closed his bag. Glancing around he made sure all windows were closed and all the lights were out.

Then he drove to the stadium where they put their cars and then climbed into the bus. Once he was inside Iker waved at him and he sat down next to the goalkeeper. They busied themselves with talking about the newest movies and video games and soon they arrived at their team hotel.

After dinner and some free time which Sergio had spent in the cinema with some other players watching an action movie, Raúl shooed them all of to bed pretty early since they would have to be fit and rested for the next day.

Sergio went to his room and decided that he should take a shower. Once he was done, had brushed his teeth and was changed, he crawled into his bed. Even though it was very comfortable, he found no sleep. Too many thoughts were racing in his head and he was thinking about any possible scenario of what could happen during the game. Restlessly he tossed and turned around in bed.

Guti heard someone turning and tossing in the room next to him. He had to think a little but when he remembered that Sergio was his new neighbour, he decided that he would go over to make sure nothing had happened. He got up and knocked on the door next to his. Sergio opened almost immediately and that dispersed Gutis fear that he was injured or sick. “Hey Sese, do you mind if I come in?”, he asked and Sergio let him in. “I heard you turning and tossing and I wanted to make sure you’re alright”, explained Guti as he saw Sergios curious gaze.

The young defender blushed at that and mumbled: “I’m fine. Sorry for keeping you awake.” Guti only shook his head and said: “Nothing to be sorry for, gypsy. Are you nervous for tomorrow?” Sergio nodded shyly and Guti could practically feel the nerves radiating off of Sergio. The younger player only nodded as an answer to Gutis question. His vice-captain smiled lightly and then explained: “That’s completely normal, Sese. I have an idea. Go back to bed and lie down, okay?” Sergio complied and lay down again.

To his surprise Guti lay down next to him and pulled him into his arms. Sergio didn’t know how to react and tensed up involuntarily.

Guti noticed that of course and started to lightly massage the boy’s shoulders. He felt Sergio relax a little under his hands and then asked: “Do you want to tell me why you’re nervous?” Sergio didn’t answer immediately and seemed to be contemplating whether he should tell the older player about his fears or not. Guti didn’t rush him and waited patiently for Sergio to say something.

After a long while, Sergio hesitantly looked up at his vice-captain and told him: “Well I don’t know …. I mean it’s only a football game …. This has been my dream ever since I was little, but now I’m so nervous to make a mistake. What if I fail and the other club scores? What if I let the team down? They will all hate me … and Luxemburgo, too. He doesn’t seem to like me anyway. I just don’t want him to give me the fault for everything bad that happens on the field tomorrow.”

The blond player listened to Sergios worries and continued his massage as it seemed to help the younger one.

Once he was sure that Sergio wouldn’t say more, he soothed the boy: “Oh Sergio. Even if the others win against us, this will never be your fault. Maybe you’ll make a mistake and that will lead to a goal, yes. Of course that’s not perfect but a loss will never be the fault of only one player. No matter what the coach says: We win as a team and we lose as a team. Of course, there may be some actions that are more fatal than others, but none of the other players will hate or dislike you because of that. They’ll criticise the mistake, yes, but there will never be true anger. Everyone makes mistakes and that’s completely normal. And for Luxemburgo: at the moment he doesn’t really like anybody of the team. We don’t know why, but that’s also something that’s not your fault and you shouldn’t pay too much attention to his opinion of you. I have the feeling that he won’t be here for a long time since the players and the staffs dislike him. My advice for you tomorrow is: Just enjoy it. As you said this is your childhood dream. No matter if we lose or win, this should be one of the most memorable days of your life.”

Sergio had begun to smile whilst listening to Gutis little monologue. He murmured a shy: “Thanks, Guti. You really don’t know how much this helped me. I’m sorry that I’m keeping you awake, though.” His vice-captain only laughed: “You really don’t have to apologise. But I guess you should sleep now because tomorrow is going to be a demanding day. Do you want me to stay here with you?”

Sergio blushed at that question and probably didn’t dare to answer but the look on his face was the only answer Guti needed. He pulled the covers over them and let Sergio curl up into his side. The younger one fell asleep only minutes after he had turned off the lights. Guti smiled down gently at the 19-year-old in his arms and fell asleep himself.


	5. Debut

Sergio sat down on the bench before his locker gloomily. They had lost. They had lost the game of his debut. This was probably the worst possible situation. It had all gone downhill from when he had been subbed on. They had had one goal more than the others but they somehow managed to score two more goals and win. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t even recognize David Beckham who had sat down next to him.

David saw how upset Sergio was and slung an arm around his shoulders. Sergio flinched but David didn’t move his arm away. Instead he said: “Chin up, Sergio. I know this is not the result one would like to get at his first match but you can’t change it. You played very well today and nothing of what happened was your fault. It would have happened as well if you hadn’t been subbed on. Don’t worry about it anymore, okay?”

Before Sergio could answer, Iker had appeared as well and agreed with David. The goalkeeper proceeded to pull Sergio up and told him to shower which caused all three of them to laugh.

After having showered, Sergio felt much better. His slightly better mood was destroyed quickly when he came back into the dressing room and Luxemburgo immediately started shouting at him: “Do you know what you did today? This was a disaster. The two goals were entirely your fault because you let the striker run past you! You could have prohibited it! But you didn’t! This is going to have consequences, I promise you!”

Raúl had had enough. Luxemburgo had no right to shout at anyone like that. Especially not at Sergio. The young defender looked completely lost and didn’t say a word. Luxemburgos accusations seemed to hurt him as if he had physically hit him. He stood up and told the coach with an icy voice: “Leave the kid alone. He has done nothing wrong. We all didn’t prohibit these goals and they are surely not Sergios fault. If you want to punish him for this game then I promise you that you won’t be the coach of Real Madrid for much longer. You can’t coach a team that doesn’t want you.”

After that he turned away from his coach and went over to Sergio. The young defender hadn’t moved an inch since Luxemburgo had shouted at him. He looked shocked and it hurt Raúl to see him like this. David tapped him on the shoulder and signalled him wordlessly that they were all going to go home and leave them alone. Raúl nodded and smiled at his colleagues and friends. He was almost thankful that they were gone because he assumed that Sergio wouldn’t like everyone to see him like this. David had thought the same as Raúl and made sure that everyone was getting out of the dressing room.

Outside they met Guti who had had an appointment with the physios after the game and therefore hadn’t witnessed Luxemburgos outburst. The vice-captain seemed surprised at seeing them out of the dressing room this early and David explained to him before he could even ask: “Luxemburgo had a little screaming fit in the dressing room and gave Sergio the fault for the last two goals. Raúl defended Sergio since the kid didn’t even know what was happening. I guess he’s comforting Sergio now.”

Guti only nodded and jogged towards the dressing room. He opened the door carefully and the sight nearly broke his heart.

Raúl had taken Sergio into his arms immediately after everyone left. The young defender trembled slightly and as his captain moved them to sit on the bench and begun whispering comforting words, Sergio lost it. He started crying into Raúls shirt. He tried to get out of his embrace ashamed but Raúl only held him tighter to his body.

The captain looked up as he heard the door open and was immensely relieved to see Guti there. Guti came over to them and started to stroke Sergios back. The young boy cried so hard that tremors wrecked his body. He started sobbing uncontrollably: “Why did this have to happen? … I only wanted it to be good …. He’s right I’m a bad player … maybe I should go back to Sevilla …” After a long time filled with crying and sobbing heartbreakingly, he went still in Raúls arms and both of the older players realised that he had cried himself to sleep.

Guti looked at Raúl with a sad expression and stated: “Luxemburgos words must’ve hurt him a lot.” Raúl only nodded and explained still somewhat shocked: “It was horrible to witness. Sergio couldn’t even defend himself because he was being screamed at from the moment he left the showers. He had no warning, nothing.” The blond player picked the boy up and Raúl took their bags.

Once they had brought Sergio home with them because they couldn’t leave him alone in this state, Guti lied him down on the couch and sat down in an armchair next to him. Raúl went into the kitchen to prepare a light dinner for them. A few minutes later, Sergio woke up and looked around startled. His eyes fell onto Guti next to him who smiled softly. The young defender needed a few moments to remember what had happened and he could feel himself blush out of embarrassment. They had lost the game of his debut. Luxemburgo had shouted at him and afterwards he had cried in Raúls arms like a child.

As he remembered that he begun to squirm around a little uncomfortably but stopped surprised as Guti sat down next to him. Sergio looked down at his lap and couldn’t help but worry if his captains thought less of him – now that they had seen him like this.

Guti smiled sadly as he could imagine what thoughts went through Sergios head. He gently put two fingers under Sergios chin and forced him to look up. Sergio met his eyes shyly and Guti smiled: “No need to be embarrassed, gypsy. Your reactions today were completely normal and no one is thinking any less of you because of them, okay? I don’t know what Luxemburgo said but I can assure you that he had no right to do that.”

Sergio still looked somewhat unconvinced and Raúl, who had been leaning in the doorframe, decided to intervene: “Guti’s right, Sese. None of the goals was your fault and Luxemburgo had no right to accuse you of that. You also don’t have to be ashamed of the way you reacted. You had no chance to prepare yourself for what was going to happen and I can assure you that everyone of this team would have been shocked. In fact they all were. We all agree that the coach has crossed his limits. He can’t just do what he wants and he surely can’t give you the fault for a loss when he knew that he rushed your debut. I’m quite sure it would have been better if he would have let you debut in one of the following games as they are not as demanding as this one was. I’m not saying that you didn’t handle it well – you acted really well on the pitch actually – but I guess it was the wrong point of time to sub you on. I would have liked it more if someone with more experience had taken over that job. But we can’t change that now. It happened and it was absolutely not your fault. There is no reason for you to doubt your abilities as a football player. You were good and you have a rightful place in this team. Do you understand that?”

Sergio nodded bashfully and Guti smiled encouragingly: “I guess that Raúls dinner is ready. Are you hungry, gypsy?” The young defender hadn’t noticed before but at the mention of dinner his stomach rumbled rather loudly and he realised that he was quite hungry.


	6. Medical Check

A few days after that game one of the members of the medical staff stood up during lunch to make an announcement. He told the players that they all would have to undergo medical checks during the following days. A list with their names and the dates would be hanging in their living space at the training centre so all of them would know when it was their turn. This was especially important as they were not allowed to eat before their check-up because they needed to do a blood test of everyone.

Guti didn’t really care about the check-up since he had already done quite a few of those in the past and knew what was awaiting him. His older colleagues seemed to be thinking the same way but he noticed that the younger players looked quite nervous. The vice-captain remembered his and Raúls tour with Sergio and the defenders reaction to the medical facilities. He started to search the room for Sergio and found him sitting next to Iker. He was quite relieved that these two had become friends so quickly and noticed that Iker seemed to comfort his friend. Iker seemed to feel his gaze and looked up to meet Gutis eyes.  

Once they were finished with lunch, Guti was talking to Raúl. Their conversation was about the younger players and the medical tests of the next days. Both of them knew out of experience that some of the kids needed a bit of comfort before their visit to the doctor. Guti also told Raúl that Sergio didn’t look too happy at lunch. Their conversation was interrupted by Iker who wanted to talk to them about something important.

“What’s up Iker?”, Raúl asked and looked at him inquiringly. Iker sighed and then answered: “I probably shouldn’t tell you this but Sergio is acting really strange because of that visit to the doctors. He didn’t finish his lunch and disappeared into his room to call his mum. He only ever does that when he’s extremely nervous or afraid of something.” Guti nodded and thanked Iker for telling them. He also promised the worried goalkeeper that they would have a talk with Sergio to make sure he’s alright.

The two captains decided to do that now as the afternoon training session wouldn’t start until 4 p.m. They knocked on the door of Sergios hotel room and the young defender opened it. He seemed to be surprised to see them but he let them in nevertheless. They could sense that something was troubling him as he was not his usual bubbly self.

Raúl took a seat in one of the chairs and asked Sergio to do the same. Guti remained standing besides Raúl. Raúl looked at Sergio and started: “Well, Sese, we need to talk to you. Iker just came up to us and told us that he’s worried about you. Do you have any idea why?” The youngest started to chew on his lower lip but shook his head insecurely. Raúl smiled at that and continued: “He told us that you acted strange after the announcement at lunch. Do you want to tell us why?”

Sergio looked down at his lap and started playing with his fingers nervously. Guti decided to say something to soothe the boy and told him: “Gypsy, whatever it is no one is going to laugh at you. We only want to help you. But we can’t do that if you don’t tell us about the problem, okay?”

Sergio nodded but he needed a few more minutes before he confessed: “I’m afraid of going to the doctors. I know it’s ridiculous but it’s true.” Raúl shook his head and reassured the young defender: “There’s nothing ridiculous about that. Everyone is afraid of something. That’s completely normal. Is there anything we can do to help you with that fear?”

The defender didn’t seem to know a solution but Guti had an idea: “Would it help you if one of us accompanied you there? I promise you that’s nothing to be ashamed off. We do that quite often to be honest. You surely are not the first person with a fear of going to the doctor and you are not the first one to seek comfort in having another player there.  It doesn’t have to be us. I’m sure that Iker or David would accompany you there without any doubts if you asked them. How does that sound, hmm?” Sergio seemed to think about it and then looked up.

He looked directly into Gutis eyes and admitted shyly: “Do you mind if I want you to be there?” Guti only smiled and asked: “When is your check-up going to take place?” His younger colleague seemed to be immensely relieved and told him that it would be the next day. Raúl and Guti stayed for a little while longer and talked to Sergio.

David Beckham had heard them from his room and had also decided to come over. All of them had a really good time and David told hilarious stories of his kids. During all of that, Guti noticed that Sergio seemed to be way more relaxed and calm now as he didn’t think about his appointment the following day.

When Guti saw Sergio the next day he saw immediately how nervous the boy was. He seemed to be really afraid of the examination. Guti walked over to a pacing Sergio and put his hands on the shoulders of the young defender. Through the actions of his vice-captain Sergio paused his pacing and listened to his words: “Gypsy, calm down. There’s nothing you need to worry about. I’m going to be there the whole time if you want me to, okay? Just stop working yourself up and try to calm down, okay?” Sergio nodded but his tautness returned full force when the doctor came out of his office.

The man walked over to them and greeted both of them with a handshake. He introduced himself to Sergio as Doctor Olmo and didn’t even seem to be surprised as Guti followed them into the office. He then spoke up: “Okay Sergio, I guess we should do the blood test first because then you can have a little breakfast while I’m asking you questions and explaining the other examinations. Are you alright with that?” Sergio could only nod since the thought of having a needle prick his arm and draw blood out of him made him want to hide behind Guti.

The blond midfielder watched as Sergio climbed up onto the exam table. He noticed that the younger one was quite frightened. Doctor Olmo stood in front of the defender and tied a band around his upper arm. Sergio looked away since he didn’t want to see the needle. When the 19-year-old turned his head, Guti could see that he was having quite a hard time to not break into tears. The vice-captain noticed how Sergio clamped his eyes shut as the needle pierced his skin. His whole body was stiff and he looked like he would need some comfort. Thankfully Doctor Olmo seemed to understand that his patient was afraid and got the blood test done as quickly as possible.

After he was done, he placed a little ball of gauze on Sergios arm and told Guti to hold it there with some pressure. It was a clever tactic and the older player was deeply grateful that Doctor Olmo was that empathic and understanding. He went over to Sergio and gently pressed the gauze onto the younger ones arm. Sergio let his head sink onto Gutis shoulder who started playing lightly with his hair. Not long after Sergio had relaxed again and Doctor Olmo returned. He brought a plate filled with food with him and gave it to Sergio.

After Sergio had eaten his breakfast and had answered the questions of Doctor Olmo, the examination continued. Guti only needed to take a look onto Sergios face to know that the boy desperately needed comfort even if he’d never ask for it himself. Because of that the vice-captain decided to take his chair and move it next to the exam table so Sergio could grab onto him if he needed to. Sergio was wheighed and measured and the doctor took his pulse and heart frequency.

He then took a quick look onto Sergios knee as he had sustained an injury there during his time in Sevilla. “Does this hurt, Sergio?”, Doctor Olmo asked concerned since the young defender flinched away from his hands slightly. Sergio shook his head but it was clear that something about his knee was troubling him and he didn’t want to admit it. The doctor carried out a few more tests to make sure that Sergios knee was alright when he came across a scar. After he had asked if he’d received surgery there, Sergio shook his head and told him that it was the leftover of a tackle and that this had needed stitches. Guti saw that the memories this brought up were not pleasant ones and was relieved as Doctor Olmo moved on to examining Sergios ankles which seemed to be okay.  

Sergio was done and looked immensely relieved as they left the office. “Was it really that bad?”, asked Guti and caused the younger one to blush and shrug his shoulders. After some moments Sergio spoke up: “Thank you for coming with me. Even though it was probably a waste of your time knowing that you were there really helped me to get through that.” Guti shook his head, ruffled Sergios hair affectionately and then told him: “This wasn’t a waste of time. If you needed me to come with you to that examination I did it gladly. There is no need for you to be ashamed of that. Even Iker asked Raúl to accompany him once after he sustained an injury. There is nothing wrong with wanting to have someone there, okay? Everyone needs comfort sometimes. So stop worrying, gypsy!” Sergio nodded and seemed to be relieved that the older one didn’t think he was a coward.

Guti spoke up again as they were sitting in the cafeteria since they had been freed from the training session: “I’m just wondering: How did you get through the medical check that was needed in order for you to come to Real Madrid?” The young defender blushed a little and mumbled: “I brought my mum with me.” Guti smiled at that and once again stroked through Sergios long strands of hair.


	7. The first away-match

Sergio was running around his house trying to pack his bag for the next days. The team would have a match in Valencia and they would be staying there overnight which meant a lot of stress for the young defender since he had never been good at packing everything important into his bag without forgetting something. Just as he was gathering all his toiletry articles in a smaller bag, he heard his phone ring. Stressed out he cursed and jogged into his bedroom where his phone lay on the nightstand. Throwing a glance at the number he saw that Iker was calling him.

“Hi Iker, what’s up?”, he asked as soon as he’d picked up his phone and answered the call. Iker on the other end chuckled amused and said:  “Hi Sese. Am I wrong or are you a little stressed at the moment?” Sergio sighed and admitted: “Yeah I am. I have never been good at packing a bag for a trip without forgetting something important. I drove my mother crazy in regular intervals since I always called her once I had forgotten something at home. I even turned around one time halfway to the airport because I noticed that I had forgotten my passport.”

Iker listened to him and then started laughing: “Why doesn’t this surprise me? Knowing you I guess that suggesting you to write a packing list is not of good use either since I know that you’re going to lose it as well.”  Sergio only made a humming sound to confirm that Ikers theory about the packing list was true. He’d already tried that and it didn’t work out well. Iker started speaking again: “Why don’t you just tell me what you already have packed into your bag and then I’ll tell you if I think that you forgot something?”

As this was what Sergio had done with his mom regularly as well, he spent the next 20 minutes telling Iker what he had packed and Iker reminded him of a few things that he’d missed. After he ended his phone call with Iker, Sergio made himself a light dinner and then went to bed.

The next morning when he drove up to the Valdebebas, Sergio saw that their bus was already waiting for them. He gave his bag to one of the bus drivers to store it in the bus and climbed into the vehicle. His insecurity came back again once he saw that all his team mates were sitting in established pairs or groups and he didn’t know where to sit down himself. Before he could worry any more, a hand in the back of the bus shot up and waved towards him and someone called his name. He went towards the back of the bus and saw relieved that Iker seemed to want to sit next to him.

He slid onto the seat next to the goalkeeper and they immediately started talking to each other. During their talk Iker noticed that Sergio avoided to talk about the upcoming match but the goalkeeper brushed it off since he knew that Sergio was always getting quite nervous before a game. Because of that and the nerves of playing at a different stadium were the main reasons why Iker decided to not push Sergio to talk about the match if he didn’t want to.

They were still chatting when they noticed that Raúl was on his way over to them. Their captain sat down on the empty seats opposite of them and greeted them. After a little while of smalltalk, Raúl got to the reason he was here and not on his seat next to Guti. He looked at Sergio and explained to him: “You’ll be rooming with David tonight, okay?” Whilst Iker seemed to be confused as to why Raúl was asking Sergio about this, Sergio blushed at that question and lowered his head in shame. Iker seemed to sense that this was a delicate topic and excused himself.

On his way through the bus, he bumped into David who also made his way back to probably join Sergio and Raúl. Iker also didn’t miss the way Guti was looking at the three of them and decided that he would sit next to Guti until the others were done talking to get some kind of information about what was going on there.

David had finally reached Sergio and Raúl and sat down on Ikers now empty seat. He saw that Sergio looked a little uncomfortable and guessed that Raúl had already begun talking to him. Raúl continued: “Sergio, this isn’t something you have to be ashamed of. Every one of us understands that. I just guessed that it would be easier for you to room with somebody who knows how to help you. And since David is already quite familiar with the situation, he’s the best possible option.”

Sergio nodded but looked still so insecure and small that David decided to soothe him: “Sese you don’t need to worry. My older sister also used to have these kinds of problems when we were younger. I promise you that I will do everything I can to help you with this. And it’s only one night, I think we’ll manage that, right? It really is nothing you should be ashamed for okay?” Sergio nodded again and clutched the jacket he was holding in his hands very tightly as if he was seeking comfort but didn’t know how to ask for it.

David got up to make room for Raúl and the captain sat down next to the boy. He slung an arm around Sergio and pulled him into his side. Sergio seemed to relax into Raúl and David decided to leave the two alone as he felt like he was interrupting something. On his way back to his seat, he noticed Guti looking at him with a raised eyebrow. David smiled at him, took out his phone and typed a text message to Guti in which he told his vice-captain the short version of what had happened.

At the same time as David had sat down next to Sergio, Iker had taken a seat next to Guti. The blond player grinned and asked: “Hey Iker! What gives me the honour of enjoying your company?” Iker shook his head amused but became serious again quite quickly as he said: “I actually wanted to ask you something …” Before he could even finish his sentence Guti interrupted him: “You want to know what’s up with Sergio, right?” Iker only nodded and Guti sighed.

Before the blond player could answer his question, his phone beeped. Relief spread out on Gutis features as he read the message and when he turned to Iker again, he seemed to be more relaxed. The vice-captain began to explain before Iker could ask anything else: “Okay, so David came up to me and Raúl two days ago before the match and told us that Sergio seemed to have trouble sleeping. He had gone over to him the night before as he had heard him crying in his room. Sergio has let David comfort him but refused to tell him the reason behind his distress. So David decided to tell us about it. We tried to talk to him about it but Sergio also didn’t tell us why he had been that upset at night. Since we were worried about him because sleep is important and all that, we called his brother René – “

Before Guti could continue, Iker interrupted him: “Wait, why do you have the phone number of Sergios brother?” The blond smiled and continued: “Well he’s Sergios manager, so we only had to ask someone of the staff for it. He then told us that Sergio was so distressed because of the match tomorrow in Valencia. We didn’t know why at first too, so he told us that the last time Sese played against Valencia, he was fouled and hurt his knee quite badly. I’m sure you know that Sergio is afraid of doctors, so this injury was like living hell for him. When I told René that Sergio had had nearly no problems with Doctor Olmo during his medical check a few weeks ago, he told me that the team doctors of Sevilla hadn’t been that nice and understanding towards him. They treated the injury correctly but were not very careful during the procedures so Sergio had to endure quite a lot of pain during that process. He also suffered from night terrors after that game and the injury since he couldn’t get it out of his head. After that call we confronted Sergio with our new information and he admitted that he had nightmares of that game and his injury which he sustained there. We guessed it would be the easiest way for him to room with David, since David already managed to comfort him recently.”

Iker nodded understandingly and smiled as he looked back and saw that Sergio had fallen asleep on Raúls shoulder. Guti smiled as well but uttered concerned: “I just wonder how much he has slept the last two nights when he’s passed out like this now.”

After having dinner with the whole team where Sergio had sat in between Guti and Iker, he and David went back to their hotel room. Sergio gulped nervously since he didn’t want to disturb the other player but David seemed to understand what was going on in the younger boys head and said: “Hey Sese, no need to worry. You’re not disturbing me in any form. And please, you can wake me up at any time if you need something, okay? I won’t be mad at you for having nightmares about what has happened. Do you maybe want to talk about that game?”

Sergio shuddered and declined. Soon after both of them were lying in their beds and wished each other a good night.

Sergio woke up to Davids alarm the next morning. He felt beat since he hadn’t slept a lot during the night. David threw him a concerned glance but thankfully said nothing. At breakfast they were met with Guti and Raúl. The captains both noticed that Sergio looked exhausted but also decided that they wouldn’t talk about this now. When Iker joined their group grumbling about Ronaldo having woken him with a cold towel, all of them started laughing.

-“-

The match had been hard but in the end Real Madrid won 2:1. Sergio had done a good job on the pitch and now looked quite exhausted as he sat on the bench and downed a bottle of water. Guti looked at him with a thoughtful expression since he was thinking about how he could make Sergio feel better. René had told them that the nightmares would probably stick for couple of days after the match as well but Guti could see that Sergio needed sleep very badly since the boy had deep shadows under his eyes.

In the bus again, Guti pulled Sergio on the seat in between him and Raúl without letting him protest against it. Guti could see that something was troubling Sergio so he decided to talk to him: “Okay, Sese, there’s no way you’re getting out of this. What is bothering you and therefore keeps you from sleeping?” Sergio looked down at his lap but the blond wouldn’t have any of that. He put a finger under the defenders chin and forced his head up gently. Sergio looked into his eyes timidly and stuttered uneasily: “I don’t know …. I’m fine but … I’m just tired and beat but I can’t sleep …. It’s all going to haunt me again …” Raúl on Sergios other side sighed worriedly and carded a hand through his hair to offer some comfort.

Guti smiled as if he had an idea and put his hands on Sergios hips. Then he lifted him up and turned him around, so that Sergio was sitting sideways with his head pillowed on Raúls chest and his legs hanging over Gutis lap. Not even listening to Sergios protests, Guti gently pulled the leg of his sweatpants up over his knee. Only now did Raúl realise that it was the knee that had been injured. The captain slung his arms around Sergios body and effectively prevented him from moving. The only thing Sergio could do was lean back against Raúl and let his captains do what they deemed best for him.

Guti gently placed his hands on Sergios knee and didn’t move them away as the young boy flinched. The hands stayed on his knee and after a while Sergio could feel himself relax a little. Guti then started to move his hands slightly and Sergio tensed up again. Raúl made a comforting sound and started to caress the youngest ones belly tenderly. His vice-captain had started to massage his knee and mumbled gently: “Everything is alright, Sese. See … your knee doesn’t hurt. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’re fine. No one is going to hurt you, okay? Why don’t you just close your eyes for a little while, hmm?” 

The soothing tone of voice calmed Sergio down a lot and he hesitantly complied, leaned back into Raúl and closed his eyes. The hands of his captains were still massaging his knee and his belly as Raúl started to whisper in his ear: “Go to sleep, Sergio. We’re going to stay right here and watch over you, okay? There’s no need to be afraid of nightmares now. You’re fine. Go to sleep. Trust us.” The words gently lulled Sergio into a deep sleep that he couldn’t have fought even if he wanted to.

Guti smiled as he saw that Sergio had fallen asleep but didn’t stop his light massage. Raúl continued his as well and said quietly: “We can’t leave him alone tonight.” Guti only nodded and smiled as he saw Sergio cuddling deeper into Raúl instinctively.

When they were back at the Valdebebas in Madrid, Guti lifted Sergio up gently and carried the sleeping boy over to his’ and Raúls car and put him on the backseat gently buckling him in. The blond turned around when he heard steps approaching him.

David stood in front of him, threw a glance at the sleeping Sergio and said fondly: “I guess he really needed that sleep. How did you manage to convince him? Yesterday evening I tried everything but he downright refused to sleep.” Guti chuckled and wiggled his fingers: “Nothing a good massage on the knee and some sweet-talk couldn’t solve.” David grinned at him and made his way over to his own car as Raúl came towards them.

 20 minutes later, the three had arrived at Gutis and Raúls home. After they had placed Sergio in the middle of their bed and stripped him from his jumper and sweatpants, leaving him in a t-shirt and his boxers, Guti smiled somewhat amused and said to Raúl: “You know, judging by how often he’s here, we should ask him if he wanted to move in with us.”

Raúl laughed at that as well and both captains lay down next to Sergio who seemed to search for them in his sleep. As soon as Guti took him into his arms, Sergio cuddled up to him completely and got still again. Both of the older men smiled at him fondly and fell asleep as well.


	8. Sickness

The moment the training session started, Raúl noticed that something was different. It was unusually quiet even though the others were chatting and laughing with each other. After a short glance around, Raúl noticed that Sergio was missing as well as Iker. Those two were usually very present since they were always talking and laughing loudly especially together. Suddenly Iker appeared on the pitch looking a little stressed out. That was odd since the goalkeeper was usually very punctual, so Raúl decided to go talk to him about what had happened.

The captain made his way over to Iker and asked him after a short greeting: “Is everything alright? You’re not usually one of the people who are late for training. Has something happened?” Iker only shrugged but gave in fairly quickly: “Nothing has happened. Well something has, but I really can’t tell you. Sergio would kill me –“

He couldn’t finish his sentence as Guti interrupted him: “Why would gypsy kill you? What have the two of you done and where the hell is he?” Iker sighed uneasily but couldn’t withstand the piercing stares of his captains, so he answered: “Sergio is at home. He called me today morning – really early which had me wondering before I even picked up – and told me that he was sick. He told me that it wasn’t that bad but I decided to stop by at his house before training to see if he needed something – you know food and such. Turns out that that was a good idea since Sergio really is sick. I tried everything to convince him to go to a doctor or just letting me stay, but I didn’t have any success. He seems to be even more stubborn when he’s sick than when he’s healthy.”

Raúl asked: “What do you mean he’s really sick? What exactly does he have?” Iker pulled a compassionate expression and said: “Well basically he’s got everything. A stuffed nose, sore throat – at least judging by his voice – , I’m sure he’s got a fever, he also threw up twice in the 30 minutes I was with him and I’m sure that he’s got a lot of other things as well but he won’t admit them.” Guti grinned amused as that was quite a realistic statement from Iker and mused: “Let’s see if he’s going to tell us what he has voluntarily or if we have to force him to.” Raúl nodded and the three of them continued with the training since Luxemburgo looked as if he would scream at them soon if they didn’t.

After the morning training session, Guti and Raúl decided to use their captain privileges and not attend the session in the afternoon. Soon they were standing in front of Sergios house and Guti rang the bell. After a while, Sergio opened the door and to say that he looked miserable would be an understatement. “Shit, Sergio, you don’t look good”, cursed Guti instead of a greeting, grabbed Sergio around the waist, pushed him back inside and let Raúl follow them.

Sergio tried to protest but was interrupted by a coughing fit. Guti pulled him against his chest and rubbed his back comfortingly until Sergio had calmed down. Raúl looked at the boy with a stern expression and asked: “So Sergio, I want to hear the truth: What do you have?” Sergio answered with a rough voice: “My head hurts, my nose is stuffed, my throat is sore, I have to cough all the time, my tummy hurts and I’m feeling hot and cold.” Guti put a hand on Sergios forehead which confirmed that he had a fever.

The captains decided to put Sergio into bed since he was shivering from the cold and it was the most comfortable place for him to be in. They agreed that Raúl was going to get some medicine and other stuff they would need and Guti stayed with Sergio. The young defender started to squirm around with a pained expression. “What’s hurting, Sese?”, Guti asked and Sergio only pointed at his belly. Guti began to gently massage his belly with big circles and the young defender relaxed again. A door opening and falling closed again indicated that Raúl had come back.

The captain sat down on Sergios other side and put a hand on his forehead. He sighed: “Sese, we have to take your temperature. I called Doctor Olmo and told him about your condition. He gave me some medicine and he told me to take your temperature rectally if you have a fever since the reading is the most accurate there.  Can you do that for us?” Sergio paled and started to stutter: “But I have never … I mean I don’t …”

Guti interrupted him by lightly stroking his hair back and mumbling comfortingly: “Shhh love. Relax. You might not know what to do but we certainly do. Trust us. This isn’t the first time we’re doing something like this.” At the end he winked at Sergio cheekily and caused him to smile shyly. Soon they got back to business again and Raúl asked Sergio to pull down his pants and underwear and lie down on his stomach. Sergio looked a little insecure but did what was asked from him. As soon as the defender lay on his stomach, Raúl started to play with his hair to comfort him a little because it looked like Sergio was somewhat ashamed in his current position.

Meanwhile Guti stepped into action, got himself a tube of lube out of Raúls bag, lubed up the thermometer and one of his fingers. Then he pulled Sergios ass cheeks apart and started to apply some lube onto his hole gently. During these actions Sergio started to squirm around uneasily but was quickly comforted by Raúl again. Guti put one hand on Sergio’s lower back – to hold him in place and to comfort him – and then pushed the lubed up thermometer into Sergio hole. The boy let out a surprised gasp and looked somewhat uneasy but couldn’t move away due to the holds of his captains.

He tried to squirm around to get away from the unknown sensation but neither Guti nor Raúl were having any of that. When Sergio whimpered, Raúl gently stroked through his hair and mumbled: “Shh Sese, it’s going to be over soon. Just relax, will you?” A few moments later the device beeped and Guti gently pulled it out. The blond looked at the reading and told them that Sergio had a fever of 38,9°C.

Raúl furrowed his brows in concern because the youngest was rolling onto his side and clutching his stomach with a pained expression. He leaned over to Guti and whispered in his ear: “I’m going to call Doctor Olmo. He should better come over and have a look at Sergio. Can you watch him for that time?” Guti nodded and collected the shivering defender into his arms. In that process he pulled up Sergios underwear and sweatpants and then cuddled him into a fluffy blanket. The blond sat Sergio on his lap and gently placed a hand on his belly. Since Gutis hands were warm, Sergio felt a little comforted by that and relaxed slightly. He was still in obvious pain but at least he had calmed down a little and let his head rest against Gutis shoulder.

However both of the players looked up when Raúl came back into the room. Guti raised his eyebrows at his boyfriend since he was not looking too happy. Raúl sighed and explained: “Doctor Olmo has no time to come here, so he asked me if we could take him to his office.”

After hearing that Sergio tried to furiously squirm his way out of Gutis hold. His vice-captain wouldn’t have any of that and only held him tighter. Raúl sat down next to them, gently stroked over Sergios shoulders and neck and mumbled: “Sese, I know that you don’t like going to the doctors. But I promise you that Doctor Olmo only wants you to feel better. If you want to Guti or I or even both of us will stay with you the whole time, okay?” Sergio nodded shyly and let Guti hold him for a few more moments.

-“-

Sergio was very quiet throughout the drive. Guti was sitting with him on the backseats while Raúl was driving. The captains weren’t pushing Sergio to say something since they knew that the boy needed some time to prepare himself for the upcoming examination.

When they arrived and entered the office of Doctor Olmo at the Valdebebas, the doctor was already waiting for them. When he was surprised that the captains were going to stay with Sergio, he didn’t show it.

The examination was pretty quick – at least for Raúl and Guti. For Sergio it felt like an eternity. Doctor Olmo checked his lungs and heart, took his temperature – thankfully he measured it in his ear and not like Guti and Raúl had done it –, looked down his throat and felt around on his belly. During that exam, Guti came over and stroked through Sergios hair comfortingly since he knew that it could be quite uncomfortable to have someone prodding on your stomach when you were sick.

Sergio looked very relieved when Doctor Olmo finally finished the last procedure and sat down next to Raúl quickly. Even though the doctor had been very nice and understanding through it all, Sergio was relieved it was over. However that relief didn’t last long when he saw Doctor Olmos concerned expression.

“Well Sergio, it seems like you caught a very bad case of the flu. Your fever is high and I think that it will rise some more in the next hours. I would really like to take you to a hospital to keep you there over the next days since because you’ll need someone to take care of you the whole time”, he explained then.

Sergio was already on the verge of panicking as he heard Raúl speaking up: “Can’t we take care of him? Sergio is – as you noticed – very afraid of doctors, examinations and also hospitals. I somehow doubt that it will do him good to stay in a hospital. José and I could stay with him and we’ll take care of him properly if you tell us what we should do. We have no games for the next two weeks and could be freed from training.” Sergio looked at Doctor Olmo with big, hopeful eyes as the man seemed to contemplate this option.

Finally he nodded and gave them his permission to take Sergio home again. While Guti took Sergio to the car already, Raúl stayed with Doctor Olmo who gave him instructions on how to treat Sergio in the next days. He also told the Real Madrid captain to call him whenever Sergios condition got worse.

When they reached Sergios house, the captains gently tucked him into his bed. However Sergio didn’t get to rest immediately since Guti and Raúl decided to wrap cold towels around his calves which should help with the fever. Sergio didn’t like the feeling of it and tried to protest but had no success. Raúl strode off to his kitchen to cook some soup and tea for Sergio and Guti stayed with him to make sure that the towels stayed in their place since he suspected that Sergio would rip them off at the first opportunity he got.

After an hour Raúl came back into the room carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. Sergio scrunched his nose at him but his captains forced him to eat and drink it all. When he was finished with his food, Guti lifted his blanket and took away the towels. Sergio smiled happily but his smile faded when he saw Raúl holding up the fever thermometer.

Guti sensed the boys change in emotions and gently carded a hand through his hair. Then he helped him to pull down his pants and underwear a bit and gently coaxed him to lie on his side with his head in Guti lap. Due to that position Sergio couldn’t see Raúl lubing up the thermometer and was startled when his captain smeared some lube between his cheeks. Just as before the thermometer was pushed into his hole which caused him to squirm away from it – well at least he tried to. Guti and Raúl both held him in place gently but released him as soon as Raúl had pulled the thermometer out again. The fever had risen up to 39,4°C but Doctor Olmo had already predicted that.

The captains gently wrapped Sergio into a blanket and tucked him in to sleep. Due to the exhaustion of the day and the flu that was straining him, the boy was asleep pretty quickly. The two older players decided that Raúl would stay with Sergio while Guti would drive to their house to fetch a few things they might need in the next days.

-“-

When Guti came back and entered Sergios bedroom, he started to smile. Sergio had snuggled into Raúls side and his boyfriend was absentmindedly stroking his hair. Raúl smiled as well and carefully entangled himself from Sergio.

The two went downstairs into Sergios living room and Guti started to unpack the bags he had brought with him. In one of them he had packed stuff like clothes and toiletry articles they would need in the next days since they would be staying at Sergios house until he was better. In the other bag Guti had packed everything else they might need to take care of the sick defender. It included various sorts of fruit juice and tea, some heating pats – they were quicker to make than hot water bottles –, massage oil since they both knew from experience that Sergio would wake up with aching and sore limbs and a baby monitor.

At the last item Raúl raised his eyebrows in question. Guti laughed but explained: “I guess it could be useful at night. That way we’ll know if he needs something or if he’s able to sleep.” It actually was a good idea and Raúl went upstairs to check on Sergio and place the monitor in the room.

When he came downstairs again Raúl was wearing a slightly concerned expression. Before Guti could ask he said: “He’s sleeping but very restlessly. I don’t think that he’ll sleep through the night if I’m being honest.” Guti nodded in agreement and both of them lay down on Sergios large couch to get a little bit of sleep.

-“-

Guti woke up to someone crying softly. He sat up and was momentarily disoriented but remembered quickly that he was at Sergios house because the defender was sick. Raúl next to him was still sleeping peacefully and Gutis sleepy brain processed that it must be Sergio whose crying the monitor was conveying. He got up quietly and made his way upstairs.

When he entered the bedroom of Sergio, he saw that the younger one had curled up into a little ball and was obviously in pain. Carefully Guti sat down next to him and placed a comforting hand on Sergios back. The younger one was startled a little but the pain seemed to be more distracting. “Sese, what’s wrong? What’s hurting, hmm?”, Guti asked and received a sob as an answer. Sergio was pointing at his tummy and Guti sighed silently.

Doctor Olmo had warned Raúl that Sergio might get a stomach ache and might even have to throw up during the course of his sickness. The blond midfielder reached for the bucket that Raúl had placed in Sergios room for exactly this case and pulled it next to the bed before he spoke up again:  “Do you think you’re going to be sick, Sese?”

Before Sergio had time to answer his question, he shot up and started gaging. Guti quickly placed the bucket on the bed next to Sergio and moments later the younger one was puking violently. His body was shaking from the tremors that were wrecking through his body and Guti tried his best to comfort him with loving words and by stroking over his back.

Guti heard steps and turned his head to see Raúl enter the room. He seemed to have woken up to the sounds of Sergio throwing up and seemed to be as worried as Guti was himself. When Sergio was done puking, Raúl took the bucket to empty and clean it while Sergio had slumped back into Gutis arms.

The blond slung his arms around him and held his thin body close to his own. He placed a gentle hand on Sergios belly and asked softly: “Is it better now, gypsy?” Sergio nodded and looked up at him mumbling a quiet “thank you”. Guti only shook his head and told him that he had nothing to apologise for.

Raúl came back into the room carrying a few items. He placed the bucket next to the bed again and sat down on Gutis side. The captain brushed Sergios hair back from his forehead before he wiped his face with a cool cloth. That made the youngest one sigh in contentment. Raúl had also brought a cup of tea with him and Guti supported Sergios head while he was drinking a few sips of it.

Sergio felt a little embarrassed since he was being such a baby but once he looked into the faces of his captains he found nothing but a caring, concerned expression there. Also Raúl assured him that he was acting completely fine and told him that David Beckham liked to be pampered even more when he was sick or hurt. Guti agreed and added that even Iker needed some comfort by his captains sometimes.

The defender fell asleep fairly quickly again since his body was really exhausted. Guti and Raúl stayed for a little while longer and then went downstairs to cook some soup in advance that they would only have to warm up when Sergio wanted to eat something.

A few hours later they heard noises over the monitor that indicated that Sergio was waking up. Raúl went upstairs while Guti was still in the shower. When he entered the bedroom, Raúl saw that Sergio was trying to sit up.

He sat down at the edge of the bed and smiled at the younger one who was now leaning against a huge pile of pillows. “Hey sleepyhead”, Raúl greeted Sergio. “How are you feeling?”

Sergio shrugged as an answer but when he saw his captain’s stern gaze he explained: “I don’t know …. I kind of feel like I was hit by a bus. My head is bursting and my stomach is acting up again.”

Raúl put a hand on Sergios forehead and found out that it was still really warm. Sergio looked at him somewhat shyly but asked: “How do you always know when I’m awake? I mean in the night … Guti was there and then were you … I didn’t want to disturb you so I tried to be quiet …”

“Oh Sese”, Guti had come into the room as well and seemed to have heard the question, “Don’t laugh at me but I brought a baby monitor I still had at home from back when my niece was little. We placed it here for incidents like last night.”

Sergio looked at them disbelievingly but then only smiled as Raúl placed a hand on his hurting tummy and started to lightly massage it. The happy atmosphere was blown away when Sergio saw Guti holding up the fever thermometer. Even though it didn’t hurt he still didn’t like being that exposed in front of his captains.

The blond midfielder smiled and offered: “We’re now going to take you temperature but after that you get a treat, okay?” Sergio nodded and let them measure how high his fever was.

Once they were finished and had found out that his fever had gone down slightly, Guti pulled a small bottle of massage oil out of his pocket. Sergios face lit up at the thought of a massage and he hastily complied when Guti told him to take off his shirt and turn onto his stomach.

In the next 30 minutes Sergio found out that his vice-captain really would do an amazing job as a physio since his massage was extremely good and relaxing. It was so relaxing that Sergio nearly started to fall asleep again but before that could happen, Guti stopped. The defender turned his head and pouted at the older man who was only chuckling quietly in return.

-“-

After a few days that were similar to this one, Sergios fever broke overnight and the throwing up also stopped. Weirdly Sergio only threw up in the night which was quite a challenge for all three of them since they were tired a lot but the captains never left Sergio alone.

At the moment they were laying on the couch watching a movie. It was interrupted by the doorbell ringing and Raúl got up to see who it was. During the last days Iker and David had come to visit Sergio and both of them spent a few hours with him to cheer him up since he was sulking about the continuous wet towels on his calves.

He could protest and whine all he wanted but in that point Guti and Raúl were adamant. While David laughed and compared Sergio to his children who had a similar hatred towards that procedure, Iker was very understanding. He recounted one time when he was having a similar sickness to Sergios flu and Raúl and Guti had also taken care of him. They had also tortured him with the wet towels and therefore Iker was utterly and completely on Sergios side in that matter.

When Raúl came back into the living room, he was followed by Doctor Olmo. Sergio looked at them confused and moved closer to Guti instinctively. The doctor only smiled at that and said: “Hello Sergio. I only wanted to quickly check on you since Raúl told me on the phone that you were getting better. And before you ask: Yes, this is necessary especially if you want to know if you’ll be able to participate in next weeks training sessions.”

The examination was quick and only consisted of Doctor Olmo taking Sergios temperature and checking his stomach quickly. He looked at the young defender inquiringly and then said with a smile: “Well, I guess that it won’t be a problem if you start training normally with the others next week. However you have to promise me one thing: Take a break when it gets too much, okay?”

Sergio nodded at that and Guti told the doctor amused: “Don’t worry we’ll make sure that he won’t do anything stupid. After all we didn’t take care of him for the whole week only for him to get sick again after a few days.” Raúl nodded in agreement and Doctor Olmo said his goodbyes with a content smile on his face.


End file.
